The present invention relates to a disposable diaper and more particularly to a disposable diaper effective to prevent leakage of body fluids.
There have already been proposed various means adapted to prevent bodily wastes such as loose passage and/or urine from spreading in a transverse direction of a disposable diaper and eventually leaking sideways. For example, a disposable diaper disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,278 is provided on its inner surface and along transversely opposite side portions of the diaper with barrier cuffs for the prevention of body fluid leakage. The barrier cuffs primarily extend over a crotch covering region and extend further into front and rear waist covering regions. Each of these barrier cuffs has a proximal edge along which the barrier cuff is joined to the diaper and a distal edge extending in parallel to the proximal edge and elastically stretchable/contractible in a back-and-forth direction. Rubber threads are contractibly secured to the distal edge. With this diaper put on the wearer, the barrier cuffs are tightly placed around the wearer's thighs to prevent bodily wastes from spreading in the transverse direction and thereby to prevent sideways leakage of bodily wastes from the diaper.
However, after the barrier cuffs have been kept in close contact with the wearer under a contractile force of the rubber threads, these barrier cuffs of the prior art diaper may leave on the wearer's skin a mark of the rubber threads and/or rash.